Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>]

Reported by today's Israel Line

Cave Possibly Used by John the Baptist Found

Archaeologists announced on Monday that they had found a cave in the Judean 
Hills leading to the oldest baptismal site discovered to date - a huge water 
cistern decorated with evocative wall carvings where they believe John the 
Baptist anointed many disciples, HA'ARETZ reported. During a tour of the cave 
at Kibbutz Tzuba, south of Jerusalem, archaeologists presented the ancient 
wall decorations, as well as a stone they believe was used for ceremonial 
foot washing. They also reported sifting about 250,000 pottery shards from 
the cave, the apparent remnants of small water jugs used in baptismal ritual. 
The oldest shards are from the mid-second century B.C.E.
"The site we've uncovered is seemingly the connecting link between Jewish and 
Christian baptism," said British archaeologist Shimon Gibson, who heads the 
private Jerusalem Archaeological Field Unit and supervised the dig. However, 
others said there was no actual proof that John the Baptist ever set foot in 
the cave, located about four kilometers from Jerusalem's Ein Kerem 
neighborhood, birthplace of the preacher and the site where, Christian 
tradition holds, he baptized Jesus. The discovery, if confirmed, would be 
among the most significant breakthroughs for biblical scholars in memory.